A/N: Woohoo, SNOW DAY! Aren't you all absolutely lucky people? If Dr. T. had failed to cancel school, this chapter wouldn't be going up today. School is absolutely killing me, so, sorry for the slow update. Hope it was worth the wait
Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing except for any changes to the plot that you don't recognize.
"Normal speaking"
'telepathically speaking'
thoughts
XxX
"Mutant scum," the man spat, "resistance is futile."
Scott followed the man's pacing with his eyes. Resistance is futile? Has this guy been practicing his villain act? After straining against his bonds once more, Scott realized the man was right; resistance was futile. "Who are you? What do you want with me?"
The man shook his head, "Such bravery, but you are in no position to be asking questions."
There was a soft click of a key in the lock. The guard had returned, this time accompanied by an austere Asian woman in a lab coat. Her raven-black hair was pulled into a tight bun at the back of her head and semi-circle glasses framed her almond eyes.
"Dr. Foster," the man welcomed.
"Trask," she nodded, "how's the patient?"
Trask sneered down at Scott, "The mutant is stubborn, but he appears strong. I want a full diagnostic run on him before we begin, however. I want to know exactly what we're working with."
Dr. Foster nodded, "Of course."
"Good, I trust you can manage on your own? I'll leave Brutus with you if you wish." It was a statement, one not to be argued with. Trask's eyes hardened, his lips pressing together in a seamless line. "Do not let your personal feelings interfere this time, Dr. Foster, or you will find yourself locked away for malpractice and illegal experimentation."
Dr. Foster bowed her head, supposedly in shame, and Scott noticed the color of her cheeks deepening. "I assure you, that was an incident I'm determined never to repeat. You don't have to worry."
Trask eyed her in doubt, "That may be so, but I'm not willing to take that risk, Dr. Brutus will be here to ensure that nothing goes wrong."
"Yes, sir." Dr. Foster moved to the side, allowing Trask to exit the room. The door had barely begun to close when the burly guard stepped inside, slamming the door behind him and sliding the bolt into the lock. "Very well, then." Dr. Foster shook her head. "I know Trask is reluctant to trust me, however, if you get in my way, I assure you the consequences of your actions will be far direr."
If Brutus felt at all threatened by this statement, he gave no sign, his face remaining as impassive as ever.
The doctor shook her head, muttering under her breath as she crossed over to where Scott lay strapped to the metallic bed. "Hello, I'm Dr. Ami Foster, and you are?"
"Very irritated." Scott scrutinized the woman from behind his glasses.
"I imagine so," she remarked idly, busing herself with something at the sink. "However, that is apparently none of my concern at the moment."
"And why not? I am your patient, after all."
Dr. Foster shot a glance to Brutus before replying, "No, you're Trask's specimen. I'm merely hired help." She filled a syringe with a bubbling orange liquid, wiping the long needle down with alcohol.
"What's that for?" Scott asked warily, not liking the looks of such a long needle. When the doctor didn't respond, he strained against his bonds once more, as if hoping they'd suddenly loosened in the last few minutes. Dr. Foster crossed over to Scott and swiftly wiped the inside of his elbow down with rubbing alcohol. "No, get that away from me!" Scott was panicking now, rocking against his bonds.
"Please calm down," Dr. Foster said, "I promise I'm not going hurt you. I would never intentionally hurt any of my patients."
"Intentionally?" Scott gasped, watching as she lowered the needle to his skin, don't you dare-" the needle poked deep into his vein, and with a sorry smile, Dr. Foster injected the bubbling liquid.
Scott felt dizzy almost instantly. The room before him blurred slightly and he felt his muscles all relaxing beneath their bonds. He tried to clench his fist, but it just lay there, still, as though it had been disconnected from the rest of his nervous system. He tried to yell, but his lips would not open. Terrified, he tried moving each part of his body, yet nothing responded. He could still hear words filtering in, could still see blurred shapes of movement, yet the rest of his body felt completely foreign to him; he could no longer feel the needle which he was sure was still poking out of his skin.
Dr. Foster traced over the seams of Scott's shirt with her fingertips, knowing that in just a few moments he would have lost all consciousness. It was hard to tell with those glasses shading his eyes, but the skin around his lips kept twitching, suggesting he was still trying to maintain control of his nervous system. "Congratulations," she whispered, "you've proved to be the strongest of Trask's 'experiments' thus far. Perhaps," she added sadly, "unlike the others, you may actually survive."
XxX
Jean was lying on her back across her bed, her head and feet dangling off opposite sides, enjoying the rush of the blood flowing to her brain. It was just what she needed to clear this headache, pressure on the brain and clouded vision.
A sudden knock on the door broke her from her trance. "Jean?"
"Come in," she called, rolling her back and snapping up into a sitting position. "Ow," she muttered, placing her head in her hands, "head rush."
Kitty poked her head in through Jean's door, shuffling nervously into the room. "Hey, Jean."
"Oh, hey, Kitty. What's up?"
The younger girl tugged on ponytail, "Well, I've been thinking . . ."
"Always dangerous," Jean nodded.
"Haha," Kitty rolled her eyes, "glad to see you're feeling better."
"Not really," Jean shook her head, "I'm just not sure I'm ready to cope yet."
Kitty nodded, sitting down beside Jean on the bed. "I don't mean to sound all counselor-ish, but, do you want to talk about it?"
Jean sighed, flopping back down on her bed. "I don't know, Kitty, I'm just so, confused. It's like . . . I only just realized how I felt about him, and now I can't eve tell him, he's gone."
"Do you love him?"
Jean paused for a minute, eyeing Kitty appraisingly, she hadn't expected to get into such a conversation with the freshman, yet she felt compelled to answer. "I think so." And, almost as though interpreting Kitty's next question, she launched into an explanation of her tangled thoughts. "I don't know why, really. He's just always been there for me, you know?" She sighed, shaking her head again. "No, let me try again." She paused, brow furrowed as she contemplated the depth of Kitty's unasked question. "Did you know Scott was blind for awhile? He doesn't really like to talk about it. But, before Dr. McCoy discovered a way to contain his concussive blasts, Scott walked around with a blindfold on, never able to open his eyes for fear of hurting someone. Well, when I was younger I sued to compete in art shows throughout the school – I guess it was my way of coping after my parents 'abandoned' me, after they threw me out like a used toy. My parents were always too busy to attend the show, but Scott came to every single one, even though he couldn't see, he was always there. He's always been like that, it's just the way he is, you know? He'll always be there, no matter what, and he never gives up hope," she gave a sad laugh, "even in the most hopeless of situations."
"You're not hopeless, Jean," Kitty whispered.
"No? I turned my back on Scott in order to get closer to Duncan, when Duncan isn't even half the man Scott is."
"Can I ask why?"
"Why I was with Duncan for so long?" When Kitty nodded, Jean offered her another sad smile. "Duncan was the stability in my life. I always know what to expect from him. But Scott . . . he just knows me too well. He knows when I'm upset and whereas Duncan will believe me when I say I'm fine, Scott never gives up – he'll either push it or wait 'til I'm ready to talk." She brought her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. "With Duncan I was safe, I knew he'd never question me or touch the memories I kept hidden, But Scott will be the one to ask what know one else has, he'll be the one to touch my fears. I always knew what to expect with Duncan, but with Scott . . . you can never tell."
Kitty nodded slowly, allowing Jean to immerse herself in her own thoughts for the moment. She'd always thought she'd know Jean fairly well, everyone thought they knew Jean. But it was as though a veil was being lifted for the first time, giving Kitty a clear, unclouded view of the "perfect" Jean Grey. And what she saw was hardly perfect at all. Jean was just a lonely girl, lost without the one that she loved. She was someone who struggled to fit into the American Dream of life, she worked hard to overcome the one thing that made her different from everyone else, and for the most part she had succeeded. Without Scott, however, her world was slowly crumbling down around her, leaving her vulnerable and unguarded.
"Jean, do you want to find him?"
"Of course," Jean answered, blinking tears from her eyes.
"Right, come with me."
XxX
Dr. Ami Foster hung X-rays on the light screen on her wall, taking careful notes on the arrangement of each of Scott's bones. She found a slight fracture at the back of his skull, undoubtedly where Trask's men had hit him that first night. She shook her head, it would be impossible for her to continue research if the blundering fools continuously damaged the specimens. Luckily, the fracture wasn't serious. Lucky for you? Lucky for the mutant? Or lucky for Trask? Ami shook the thoughts from her mind, now wasn't the time to be questioning her motives. Working for Trask paid the bills, funded her research, and allowed her access to some of the most amazing creatures on earth. And, in any case, Trask's threats hung heavy in her mind. They were few and far between, but after her mishap with the last patient, Ami shuddered. She couldn't bear to recall the threats he had placed on her family. Not only did he have the power of controlling her life within his hold, but power over her family brushed at his fingertips. No matter what conflicting emotions she had over this mutant, Boy, she correct in her mind. No matter what conflicting emotions I have over this boy I cannot allow that to cloud my better judgment once more, for Ari's sake.
She glanced sadly at the teenage boy, who still lay motionless on the cold table, like a cadaver waiting to be opened at a morgue. The life of this boy lay in her hands, and her life lay in the hands of a cruel man, a man willing to go to no limits to get what he wanted. "I'm so sorry," she whispered to Scott's seemingly lifeless body. She crossed the room, pressing a red button at the base of an intercom system. "Trask," she spoke through the small box, "I've finished the basic tests, the results are waiting for you."
XxX
A/N: Was that okay? The bit with Kitty and Jean I had originally written earlier for a different purpose, so Jean's response might seem a bit out of place, but I hope it worked. Please, please review!
X00001: Yeah, Allison was Magma in the game, but she's not going to appear much more in this story, maybe just once or twice in the next two chapters. Her sole purpose was to create the atmosphere in which Scott was taken.
SOLJA: Thank you so so so so sooooo much! You don't know how unbelievably excited I was to get that video! And thanks, I was actually pretty proud of that bit.
Wen1: Sorry for the wait, but I'm back
Mi-chan17: Sorry to leave you hanging for so long, I hope this chapter was worth the wait!
GothikStrawberry: Thanks for your input on the whole "review" thing. I liked your idea, and if I feel that this really is taking up too much space, I'll take up that suggestion. It's just nice to feel mentioned, isn't it? I always love when authors do this.
Lil Jean: Believe me, I don't want to hurt Scott anymore than you want him to be hurt. He's my favorite out of all the X-men, so he definitely won't be hurt any more than necessary.
Demonestress: Yup, borrowing Allison from the game, it's cool, isn't it? I've always thought that Jean was a bit daft for not admitting how she felt, but hopefully this chapter cleared up a bit on how she's feeling. It's got to be hard for her to admit something like that.
Ldy-FloR: Glad you liked Jean dumping Duncan, but Scott's not with her yet ;)
MarkC: Thanks, I think I will keep the reviews, but they are seeming quite long, so I may only reply if people have questions. Feel free to ask any
Telepathic Angel: I'm glad you like the story. I'm not too sure on the mind bond thing yet . . . I don't want it to be exactly like "Blind Alley". So, probably not.
LanceIsHot: I finally fairly far in the game, but then my brother's friend accidentally broke our memory card, so I have to do it all over again. .
Amber Moons: I'm glad you think this is worth waiting for, I hope I didn't disappoint you with this chapter!
Diaz F: Nope, sadly it's never that simple. I wish it were though, but then there'd be no story
Please Review!
DOJ